Monday, July 11, 2016

A very Christian affair

We learn today that Andrea Leadsome has withdrawn from the Conservative leadership race leaving the only remaining candidate Theresa May to become our appointed (unelected) Prime Minister on Wednesday. Both candidates are, of course, Women and even today, that's unusual for a major economy, but, with a female leader in Germany and also (hopefully) in the USA perhaps "girl power" will be the in thing as we move through the second decade of the 21st century. I'm pleased that May has won although for me choosing a PM from this crop of Tories is like choosing between herpes and gonorrhea, May seems like someone I might know and like (although disagree with on many things) whereas Leadsom just grated at every level.

Over and above gender, other similarities caught my eye during the campaign. Both Leadsom and May are what's known these days as "committed Christians", I'm not entirely sure what this means but I take it as meaning "serious"? Although listening to both of them talking on this subject, I sense that not all committed Christians are created equal. May seems to be more of a cultural Christian to me, daughter of a Sussex vicar and attends church "occasionally" on Sundays etc. It's totally unsurprising that she says that she is Christian as her entire family landscape would have probably been dominated by it. Leadsome on the other is a recent "convert" (always the worst) and I suspect slightly more literal than May. For example she struggled to answer a recent interview question that asked "does God speak to you"? In the end after some um's and er's she didn't say yes and she didn't say no, and pulled the "don't make fun of me" card (a very Christian way of avoiding the question). After our collective experiences with George Bush chatting to his deity, this is actually quite an important question for secular voters.

The two Women have also both worked in the City although it's not entirely clear cut what Leadsom actually did, there seems to be some discrepancy between her "CV" and what people she says she worked with remember about her. The former boss of Bearings bank, Peter Norris, said that he couldn't remember her at all even though she claims to have played a "central" role after their collapse. Another oddity is that she also claims to have been the "managing director" of De Putron fund management but Companies House had her down as the "marketing director". From listening to both candidates I do get the impression that whereas May gets real stuff done, Leadsome by comparison is most definitely "in marketing".